


Judgement Call and Skating a Thin Line

by Diary



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Incredible Hulk (2008)
Genre: Canon Divergence - Post-Avengers (2012), Conversations, Dubious Ethics, Gen, Minor Clint Barton/Natasha Romanov, POV Bruce Banner
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-18
Updated: 2020-01-18
Packaged: 2021-02-27 04:20:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22300969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Diary/pseuds/Diary
Summary: AU. Wanda puts Bruce in an awkward position as her doctor, and he makes a dubious judgement call on how to handle it. Complete.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 5





	Judgement Call and Skating a Thin Line

“Dr Banner, I’ve made the judgement call to grant Miss Maximoff permission to come down to your office,” Jarvis announces. “She’ll arrive within five minutes.”

Taking off his glasses, he asks, “What’s going on, Jarvis?”

There’s a knock on the door.

“Dr Banner, I cannot reveal what Miss Maximoff told me, but I would strongly advise you to see if you can be of assistance to her.”

He sighs. “Come in!”

The door opens, and coming in, Maximoff twists her hands.

Noticing the bruising on her wrists, he wonders what to ask first.

“I might be pregnant.”

“I’ll get a gown,” he says. “If you’re going to have trouble peeing, get a glass of water and start drinking.”

He gets the gown and pregnancy test, and when he goes back, he finds her, having already stripped down to her underwear and corset, gulping down a glass of water.

Once he’s handed the gown and test to her, she immediately heads for the bathroom.

Only then does he remember that Jarvis- “Hey, Jarvis, do you know if she is or isn’t?”

“If Miss Maximoff is pregnant, it’s too early for my scanners to detect the pregnancy.”

He tries to distract himself, and then: “Dr Banner, there is some vaginal bleeding, and-”

Going over to the bathroom, he opens the unlocked door, and seeing she’s done peeing, he orders, “Get on the cot now. Leave your underwear off for right now.”

Quickly washing his hands, he puts on some gloves.

“Lie back. Do you know when exactly you last had sex was?”

“Last night, or technically, this morning. It was after midnight, and I went home at three.”

Moving her legs, he tries, “Okay, do you know when exactly the possible conception happened?”

“Um, about two weeks ago. That was the last time before this time.”

Examining her, he feels discomfort sweep through him. Pregnancy would be one thing, but-

“I’m really not sure how to approach this, but- did someone hurt you? If they did-”

“It’s what I wanted. Zip-ties, and the sex, it usually causes some bleeding, but there’s been more than normal, and I don’t think this is my period.”

He knows the fact he’s starting to hate her again, this time for putting him in this sort of position, isn’t good.

“Are you okay with me doing a blood test?”

“Yes.”

…

“You’re not pregnant.”

Sighing out Ukrainian words, she actually crosses herself, and he’s never seen her make this gesture before.

He starts to wrap her wrists with medicated gauze. “Unfortunately, this conversation can’t end there. Look, I don’t care if you’re into BDSM. I honestly don’t. But you’ve been doing things you and any partners you have shouldn’t. Never use zip-ties, and the fact you’ve bled is concerning. Generally, consensual but rough sex doesn’t result in bleeding.”

She looks as if she’d rather be anywhere else.

God, does he share the sentiment.

“I’m going to give you some pamphlets and some website links and advise you not to have sex or masturbate for another week or two. If the bleeding doesn’t completely go away within two days, you need to come back here or go to another doctor.”

She nods. “Time to get redressed?”

“Yeah.”

…

“Here. Try to change the wrapping every 24 hours for the next few days. Unwrap them for showers, swimming, or any other significant exposure to water.”

“Thank you, Dr Banner,” she quietly says.

“Please, read what I’ve given you. Consider finding someone knowledgable and discreet to talk to. There’s a big difference between controlled, consensual pain and having actual damage inflicted to your body.”

“It’s not about the pain,” she says, and based on the look on her face, she hadn’t meant to say this aloud. “That’s not the part- Goodbye, Dr Banner.”

Once she’s gone, he lets himself sigh. “Hey, Jarvis, I’m wondering if you can help me with something.”

“I shall endeavour to try, Dr Banner.”

…

He remembers when SHIELD bases were secretive, highly guarded places.

No doubt, some of them still are, but now, they have nice little downtown office buildings open to the general public, too.

Walking in, he ignores the feeling that people are looking at him. There probably _are_ some, but he chooses to believe he’s no longer the high-priority he once was.

Scanning the floating holographic itinerary in the lobby, he finds Romanov’s office, but before he can head to it, she’s exiting an elevator into the lobby. “Dr Banner. Hello.”

“Agent Romanov. Do you have a minute? I need to talk to you privately, but it’s not an urgent matter.”

She nods. “I was just about to get some tea. Why don’t you join me?”

Whether she really was or wasn’t isn’t something worth asking. “I’ll walk you there, but I’m not going to stay long enough for that.”

“Okay,” she agrees.

They go to a cafeteria (of course, SHIELD’s friendly, public-accessible building has a cafeteria, is his half-amused, mostly exasperated thought), and she orders a masala chai. “Would you like something, Dr Banner? My treat.”

“No, thank you.”

It arrives, and she says, “Let’s go outside.”

They go outside to an empty shaded patio, and he realises he just needs to accept the fact SHIELD is now using certain tactics others have used to openly recruit.

She sits down.

“There are certain ways Miss Maximoff could come after me that wouldn’t bring out the other guy, and if she does, just let her. I’m aware I’m about to skate a very, very thin line here, and I’m apologising in advance for the awkwardness this might cause.”

At her curious, wary look, he steels himself. “I’m going to advise you to talk to Miss Maximoff about any sexual partners she might have.”

Letting out a sigh at the relief of having gotten through that, he adds, “I’ll show myself out.”

“Wanda isn’t a virgin?” She stands up.

“I can’t answer that.”

“Right, no, of course.” She frowns. “I’m sorry. That was inappropriate. You’re- worried about her?”

“I feel an ethical obligation to do something despite there being other factors in play that, like I said, make me saying this to you a thin line. And I am sorry.”

“Hey.” She gives him a tentative smile. “No one could accuse you of not always doing what you’ve thought was best. Even when you’ve made mistakes, they were made in sincerity.”

He knows better, but there’s no point in bringing this up. “Have a good day, Agent Romanov.”

…

“Dr Banner, Miss Maximoff is requesting permission to enter your office. However, I must warn you-”

“Tell her I’ll meet her up there in a few minutes.”

“Yes, Dr Banner.”

He shuts down his experiment, and going up, he sees the interns looking between glowering Scarlet Witch and him with clear nervousness.

“Let’s go somewhere else, okay?”

Giving a jerky nod, she practically stomps towards the door.

…

Once they’re away from the building, she declares, “You told someone something. Natasha wouldn’t tell me if I tried to confront her. She’s very good. When she brought up men and sex and birth control, I didn’t realise- But you told someone something.”

“Yeah, I did. I advised her to talk you about any sexual partners you might have. And that’s all I said about you.”

“Why?”

“Because, she cares about you, and frankly, I can’t make an objective judgement call on your emotional state in regards to sex. You don’t need to justify what you like and don’t like to me, but if wanting consensual pain isn’t the reason you’re having rough sex, then- Look, if you want to file a complaint, I won’t argue that I didn’t cross a line, and I am sorry for any awkwardness this has caused, but this wasn’t done out of malice.”

They continue walking in silence.

“Do you have any idea how hard it is to- Even when you were a fugitive, I imagine you could have found someone willing easily enough. Everyone knows who I am. I’m not ashamed, but I’d rather tabloids not know that Scarlet Witch has certain sexual tastes.”

“My best options are people at SHIELD Academy, and they-” She scoffs. “It’s not the roughness, but I don’t mind it. I like bondage, and I like- I’m somewhat submissive when it comes to sex. But the bondage part freaks many people out, and I don’t understand. I don’t want to do it to them, I want it done to me.”

“Back then, even if I wanted to, I couldn’t have sex due to the other guy.”

“Well, now, you can. You have people who see more than your Avenger status. I have Clint, who’s with Natasha and would never see me in such a way even if he weren’t, and I have Steve and Sam, who also would never see me in such a way. Really, the closest thing I have is Jarvis discreetly helping me get certain toys!”

He manages not to laugh. It’s not exactly funny, and he does have sympathy for her frustration, but-

“I’m sorry. I’ve wished a lot of horrible things on you in the past, but the one thing I’d never wish on any woman, on any person, is for them to be in a bad sexual situation. And if that was the case, Agent Romanov was the best person I knew to help.”

“I do listen to you,” she says. “And I am honest with you.”

The way she says this causes him to look over, and they stop.

“Please, don’t go to Natasha or anyone else again unless- I’ve read what you gave me, and I didn’t lie about anything. And I won’t. There are things I don’t want you to know about me, but when it comes to my health, I trust you more than anymore, Dr Banner.”

If their positions were reversed, he’d never trust her with his.

“All the same, if you’d rather find a different doctor-”

“Is that what you want?”

Her tone is light, but he can feel all the undercurrent of their history woven in.

“Honestly, I just want you to make choices you’re comfortable with when it comes to your healthcare. I don’t mind having you as a patient, and I promise I’m unlikely to go to anyone else again, but if you think a different doctor would be better, I agree.”

“I’d rather keep being your patient.”

“Okay,” he agrees.

…

“Dr Banner, Miss Maximoff is her for her appointment,” Jarvis announces.

“Send her down.”


End file.
